Aye so, I recently reviewed A Million Ways to Die in the West (Canongate), the debut novel by Seth MacFarlane, he of Family Guy and Ted fame. The review was in The Independent on Sunday. The book was funny as far as it went, but I didn’t much see the point of the novelisation, and looking at the trailer for the movie above (NSFW, by the way), the film looks much funnier.
Dx
Here’s a cool wee highlights video of last week’s Speakeasy event at The Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh. Loads of talented folks, then me bringing up the rear, so to speak. Enjoy!
Do please join me to launch my new novel, THE DEAD BEAT, at LOOKING GLASS BOOKS, Quartermile, Edinburgh, Thursday 1st May, 6.30pm.
I’ll be in conversation with Allan Guthrie blethering about the book, reading briefly, answering questions, signing books and playing a couple of grunge covers, for reasons that will become apparent if you come along. I am led to believe there will be booze.
It’s set in Edinburgh and is about a young woman called Martha who gets a job as an obituary writer. Things go badly wrong very quickly. As you might expect for one of my books. It contains death, electroconvulsive therapy, someone swearing at a bird, female wrestling, obituaries, Kurt Cobain, house fires, attempted suicide, sex in the street and Teenage Fanclub. Not necessarily in that order.
Come!
Dx
Lookit, I’m doing this event tomorrow night in Dunbar Library as part of their science festival. Maybe I’ll get quizzed about my PhD. Or not. Anyhoo, three other great authors, should be a good night, so do come, folks!
So I’m doing a turn tonight at The Speakeasy, a spoken-word-music-comedy night at The Storytelling Centre on the High Street, Edinburgh. Doors are at 8pm, tickets are £6, but almost sold out, apparently. It’s a great line up, and there are details here. I’m reading, blethering and playing a tune, for what it’s worth, although I was gonna rehearse this afternoon except my daughter’s come home from school ill, so that’s the end of that idea.
A bientot, Dx
Another day, another cracking novel to read. I’ve been a big fan of Craig Davidson’s work since his debut story collection Rust & Bone (now a brilliant French movie also). Cataract City is a step up in terms of ambition and scope. Read my review here.
illustration by Mitch Blunt
Aye so, here are my reviews in The Big Issue of The Free (Faber) by Willy Vlautin and Boy, Snow, Bird (Picador) by Helen Oyeyemi. I liked Oyeyemi’s book well enough, and I thought The Free was absolutely terrific. I’ve long been a fan of his work, and this is his finest novel, easily one of the best things I’ve read in ages.
Every now and then a new review for one of the books pops up. Over at Endless Falls Up, Ray Garraty finds a lot to love in Gone Again, though to be fair he loves the first half of the book more than the second half. Apparently, he loved Smokeheads but hated Hit & Run. Each to their own, eh?
I was delighted to be asked to take part in a Scottish Book Trust podcast recently, discussing Michel Faber’s seminal debut novel Under the Skin alongside Sarah Stewart and host Danny Scott. It was great to revisit the novel, especially in the wake of the new movie version, and I found it both terrifying and hugely enjoyable second time round. You can hear all the blether at the SBT website here. Enjoy!
Dx
Heads up!
I have a new book coming out on May 1st, called THE DEAD BEAT. Here is the front cover:
And here is the back cover, with the blurb:
The eagle-eyed amongst you will spot a couple of things. Yes, that’s North Bridge in Edinburgh, where a lot of the action happens. And yes, that’s a quote from The Breeders’ song ‘I Just Wanna Get Along’. Though it’s set mostly in the present day, the book contains a lot of alt.rock and grunge stuff from the early 90s.
Anyway, just warning you that I’ll be plugging this fucker for a while, so feel free to ignore me.
Best, folks!
Doug
Doug Johnstone 